(Reuters) – Alabama officials on Thursday certified Democrat Doug Jones the winner of the state’s U.S. Senate race, after a state judge denied a challenge by Republican Roy Moore, whose campaign was derailed by accusations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls.

Jones won the vacant seat by about 22,000 votes, or 1.6 percentage points, election officials said. That made him the first Democrat in a quarter of a century to win a Senate seat in Alabama.

The seat was previously held by Republican Jeff Sessions, who was tapped by U.S. President Donald Trump as attorney general.

A state canvassing board composed of Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, Governor…